Most (though not all) of the managers I have worked with in the International Diploma in Language Teaching Management (IDLTM) have certainly come to management through teaching.

Personally, after teaching for 15 years, I decided I wanted to do something radically different and opted to do an MA in "International and Intercultural Management", which I anticipated would get me out of ELT.  Then after I graduated I was offered a job in a project centre ...doing ELT project management.  And the rest is, as they say, history.  Not sure if that counts as a clear career path or not!

Hi Andy,

Good to hear from you. The theme is interesting, I hope the others will respond too.

Bushra 

Not maybe directly relevant, but kind of, there is what is known as the "Peter principle": "people are promoted to their level of incompetence". I do not intend to imply that the people on this list are incompetent, but I wonder how many became managers simply because they were good teachers?

Kevin

From my observations, I think the Peter Principle is less in evidence in LTOs than it is in other industries, Kevin.  I think managers tend to have been good teachers, but the relationship is sort of the Peter principle in reverse.  People who come into ELT as teachers and who remain in the field do so because they enjoy it, they feel they are doing a good job, and they work to develop themselves.  People don't remain in ELT for the financial rewards or the promotion prospects, in the main :-) (Though perhaps the promotion prospects are more of a driver for those in very large organisations like the British Council)

So, anyone who remains in the profession tends to be highly committed and very professional.  From that core, some people decide that they would like to move towards management, for various reasons, but rarely because they've been pushed upwards beyond their levels of competence.  The problem in ELT Management as I see it is that very little training or professional development for new managers exists, and if it is there, few people avail themselves of it.  So if there are incompetent managers out there (and let's face it there are), often it's because they haven't had any management training, rather than because they are actually incapable of being a manager.

However, all this is just an impression I have, rather than anything backed up by extensive research.  

I know Jenny Johnson recently did some research into how ELT managers became ELT managers and what training they had, and I thought she had published the findings on the BC's teachingenglish site, but I can't find it there after a quick scan.  Jenny - are you out there reading this?

Andy 

Oh, and Hi Bushra!  Great to see you here.

This line from the article mentioned by Diana struck me as I think it is often the case still that teachers find themselves in management positions without feeling properly prepared: "There is a feeling that money is invested in teacher training and development but none is provided for management training and development." The course mentioned by Mar'ia sounds like one practical way to address this, and I would be interested in knowing more about it. Mar'ia. could you post where and how this diploma is offered? 
 In my context, the Head Teacher team, supported by the Academic Director, are drawn from the teaching staff. Some have previous managerial experience and some don't, but I agree with Andy's comment that people will avail themselves of training if it is available. I don't think it necessarily follows that if one is a good teacher one will be a good manager. Ideally , one needs t o have a good mix of teaching experience, management training, counselling, finance, diplomacy, marketing, economics, and...? what else?

Some interesting diversions on this thread.

In answer to the original question, "How did you become an ELT Manager?"

My first role on this side of ELT was as a Senior Teacher. It was a natural move into the position; I was only one of two teachers at a growing language centre. When the school began to grow, the position opened up out of necessity and I was considered qualified. I had about 3 years of teaching experience at this point.

That post springboarded me to another "Senior Teacher" post. Then I found myself running a department in a factory before co-directing my own company for a short while. (How this came about and the details are irrelevant here, but the I feel the management skills I learnt played a part in securing my present position). I am now Director of Studies at a private English training centre in China. I suppose you could say that I have worked my way up the ladder. I am sure the lack of qualified ELT professionals in this neck of the woods made this opportunity more possible for me, but I would like to think that my commitment and abilities had something to do with it.

I am now doing a Trinity Diploma course as I don't think that teaching and management experience alone are enough to properly tackle all the responsibilities of the kind of position I have.

Georgina

I just stayed in the same place until there wasn't anyone more senior than me!

But I did see this coming and took the Diploma, which at the time was called the Diploma in Educational Management (ELT), in anticipation of becoming the department head.